This application contains Microfiche Appendix consisting of Five (5) slides and 311 frames.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to providing a computer system for trapshooting competitions. More particularly, this invention concerns computer systems, including both means and method, for assisting in the overall management of clay sporting competitions, including trapshooting.
The microfiche appendix filed herewith and incorporated by reference herein shows the source code for software for a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and such incorporation is not intended by applicant to waive or take away applicant's copyright rights in such source code or software.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The sport of clay target shooting has been around for many years. Organized competitive shooting was started years ago as a way of simulating the hunting of game birds after the close of the hunting season. From this basic concept, the sport has grown to many variations of the original idea of tossing a glass ball into the air and breaking it by shooting it with a shotgun. The largest organization which presently oversees the rules and regulations of tournament trap shooting is the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) located in Vandalia, Ohio. This organization is worldwide, but principally sanctions tournaments in the United States and Canada. There are other similar clay sporting games, such as Skeet, Sporting Clays, International Trapshooting, etc.
Basically, the modern game of trapshooting utilizes a target made of a mixture of clay and tar, four inches in diameter, that is tossed, upon command of the contestant (shooter), from a machine (called a TRAP) located in a bunker house (TRAPHOUSE) in a safe direction away from the shooter. The objective of the shooter is to break the clay target by shooting it with a shotgun. The nature of the game requires that safety be paramount. Therefore, a well-defined method of shooting, scoring and processing of large numbers of contestants is imperative. Only a maximum of five shooters (called a SQUAD) at any one time are allowed to participate in the shooting of targets from one trap-traphouse combination (called a FIELD). They must shoot singly, i.e. one at a time in turn.
The number of contestants in a tournament determines the number of fields utilized. There are three variations of the sport. These are called: 1) Sixteen Yard or Singles; 2) Handicap; and 3) Doubles. An ATA tournament consists of one or more of these variations. Each such variation is called an EVENT and generally consists of each entrant shooting at 100 or more targets. Typically there are from three to fifteen EVENTS comprising a tournament. Each event (having 100 or more targets) is generally shot in groups of 25 or 50 targets per shooter per field. As the names suggest, in the singles variation, one target at a time is thrown in the air with the shooter standing a distance of 16 yards from the traphouse. In the handicap variation, one target at a time is thrown in the air with the shooter standing at a distance varying from 19 yards to 27 yards from the traphouse. Handicap is based on the contestant's skill; the more skilled have to shoot from further back. Doubles is shot at 16 yards from the traphouse, but two targets are thrown in the air simultaneously with the shooter being required to break both targets with two shots before the target(s) hit the ground.
The game is further organized such that the contestants are competing against others of similar skill levels. The singles and doubles have up to five classifications which are based on the contestant's average scores for breaking targets in each of these games. Further complicating the game is that for each event there are trophies and money awards for many categories. For example, there may be as many as a dozen trophies which may be won by all contestants while only those contestants paying an additional entry fee are eligible to win money.
Trapshooting and like tournaments, by their nature, present a tournament organizer with a lot of variables that cannot be predicted before the day of the tournament. For example, the number of players and thus the number of squads are unknown before the arrival of the players. There are usually long lines of entrants waiting to be assigned to squads and to pay fees, etc. The usual approach is now to use paper-driven systems, with scorecards, records run to each event and back to the scoring table, and so forth. Results may be greatly delayed for the reason of lost records or just an overwhelming amount of records hitting the scoring table at once. A more efficient method, reducing or eliminating paper and speeding up scoring results, etc., is sorely needed.